Should I use Electric Kiwi over Genesis?

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AVM

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#257125 16-Sep-2019 18:06

Hello! I just moved to NZ and only know as much about the power companies as I have read and heard from my landlord. When I moved in, they highly recommended Genesis. Like, they basically said no other company would do for them and said it would likely be the same for us. However, I think we will have low usage as we are always trying to save money. Given that, we looked at powerswitch to see what the best deals would be, and the number one was Kiwi Electric. I have not really read anything great or bad about them so I am wondering if anyone could weigh in. Genesis was like like the 20th result on powerswitch, though from what I understand, there may be some "hidden" deals within both companies (like the free power hour with KE, though I do not see any kind of discount with Genesis right now).

We are really leaning towards KE, unless someone mentions a red flag, so if you would like to share a referral code so we can both save 50$, include it in your message!

Thanks all!

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#2318665 16-Sep-2019 18:24

I've used Electric Kiwi for a couple of years. I like their free hour of power, and save about 25% that way. Customer service is fine, the only problem I've ever had was with an outage and that was quite a while ago, and as a result I believe they changed their website and processes to make things easier for everyone. I have no plans to change from Electric Kiwi.

You can use this link for the credit.

mattwnz

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#2318676 16-Sep-2019 18:28

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It depends on where you live. If you go to this website, it should show you the cheapest provider. https://www.powerswitch.org.nz . It does also depend if you have dual power, such as electricity and gas, as that can complicate things. I think Genesis do have a prompt payment discount which I am not sure if that is calculated by powerswitch.

I have been with Electric kiwi for about a month, and was previously with Genesis, and the savings have been large. That is partly because we do higher loading things inside the free offpeak hour they give you each day, such as dishwasher, heatpump etc . But it is also because I am in a semi rural area, where the unit rate is a lot higher than it was in the Wellington region. So I think percentage wise, EKs rates worked out quite a bit lower, as did their daily rate. I don't think it was quite so good for my parents who live in the Hutt, so I think they have remained with Genesis for now. Plus they also have gas combined on the bill with complicates it a bit. I can PM you a code for the $50 referral.

tdgeek

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#2318732 16-Sep-2019 19:19

Hi Anna, welcome to our country. We have used EK for a couple of years. The rates are good, the daily hour of free power you can maximise your benefit, and while they dont offer a discount, if you use the Stay Ahead TopUp you get a 10% discount. (Pay ahead $200 so you are $200 in credit and they add 10% to that). There is no contract, so I suggest jump on that now, try it out, while you look around. I wont jump on the credit link side, just helping out.

tdgeek

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#2318734 16-Sep-2019 19:21

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Note, they dont offer EV or Solar PV benefits, but in NZ, both are not worth using at the moment. They can be for some, but the cost to buy exceeds the savings.

michaelmurfy

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#2318735 16-Sep-2019 19:27

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I’m with Flick Electric on their Fixie plan. It is the cheapest I’ve found by a reasonable margin and doesn’t include any gimmicks.

Electric Kiwi is OK if you have enough to actually use their hour of free power but to be perfectly honest most of the time, even with their hour free they work out more expensive for most users.

Never base your decision by free credits also. Your landlord is likely getting a kickback by getting you to join Genesis. Much like how people’s decisions can be swayed by the fact they get $50 for getting you to sign up to EK.

rugrat

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#2318736 16-Sep-2019 19:30

I’m with Genesis.
I’m on night and weekend in Christchurch which gives week nights 9pm to 7am, and all Saturday and Sunday power for around 11 cents a KW. Peak rates are around 30 cents. Depends how use power but for some people can be big savings, Almost 2/3 of my power is used off peak, so worth more then free hour of power.

Above rates are for Christchurch, they do change depending on where you live. As others said probably best to join one without contract and can then settle down and check things out.

I’m not sure if Kiwi Eletric has off peak rates.

Cheers.

tdgeek

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#2318737 16-Sep-2019 19:35

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michaelmurfy: I’m with Flick Electric on their Fixie plan. It is the cheapest I’ve found by a reasonable margin and doesn’t include any gimmicks.

Electric Kiwi is OK if you have enough to actually use their hour of free power but to be perfectly honest most of the time, even with their hour free they work out more expensive for most users.

Never base your decision by free credits also. Your landlord is likely getting a kickback by getting you to join Genesis. Much like how people’s decisions can be swayed by the fact they get $50 for getting you to sign up to EK.

EK, is like Flick, its not mainstream. But the free hour, and rates, and 10% popup bonus aren't gimmicks, they are cash. The $50 isn't a gimmick either, its there by other users who checked the details and subscribed. Genesis probably offer $300. Ive seen the free hour get up to 45%. Timmy's is 25%. My average is 23%, highest is 42%, this months its 18%, which given its still cold is pretty good. The OP can check rates, allow for th free hour, and allow for 10% popup "discount"

tdgeek

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#2318779 16-Sep-2019 19:38

rugrat:

I’m not sure if Kiwi Electric has off peak rates.

Cheers.

They don't.

Based on your well detailed post, the OP can review based on home all day, or not, and so on.

mattwnz

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#2318785 16-Sep-2019 20:08

tdgeek:

EK, is like Flick, its not mainstream. But the free hour, and rates, and 10% popup bonus aren't gimmicks, they are cash. The $50 isn't a gimmick either, its there by other users who checked the details and subscribed. Genesis probably offer $300. Ive seen the free hour get up to 45%. Timmy's is 25%. My average is 23%, highest is 42%, this months its 18%, which given its still cold is pretty good. The OP can check rates, allow for th free hour, and allow for 10% popup "discount"

Wow, 45% of power used in that 1 hour is a lot. Guessing everything gets switched on. I seem to be averaging about 25% and the highest is 33%. I do wonder how long the free hour will last as it seems too good to be true. BUt I would probably prefer a lower overall rate than the free hour, or an offpeak rate. My monthly cost seems to be about $270, whereas it was $350 ish with genesis. But it was colder in the previous month, so may not be a fair comparison. For me, it was a choice between Flick and EK. But we can always change to another provider if rates etc change. The only issue is that it can be a few weeks for the switch to occur.

timmmay

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#2318786 16-Sep-2019 20:09

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Electric Kiwi has good standard rates, lower than many providers, and the bonus of a free hour each day. I think I do better than average as I had a timer put on the hot water cylinder to use that for the full hour, plus we use heat pump timers, heaters, dish washer, clothes drier, etc, all on timers. In winter we have the free hour in the morning before we get up, to warm the house. In summer we have it in the evening so we can air condition the house.

I'm usually at 17 - 20% of power used in the free hour at the moment, in winter. We have the house heated from 5am to 10pm four days a week, days we're home it's off when we're not here but comes on a few hours before we get home. On really cold days we just leave it on. The savings were higher, but I've scheduled more water heating than we had before because we occasionally ran out - especially when we have a sick toddler and lots of washing to do. I once got it to 55%, but that was when we were on holiday.

mattwnz

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#2318788 16-Sep-2019 20:12

michaelmurfy: I’m with Flick Electric on their Fixie plan. It is the cheapest I’ve found by a reasonable margin and doesn’t include any gimmicks.

Electric Kiwi is OK if you have enough to actually use their hour of free power but to be perfectly honest most of the time, even with their hour free they work out more expensive for most users.

Never base your decision by free credits also. Your landlord is likely getting a kickback by getting you to join Genesis. Much like how people’s decisions can be swayed by the fact they get $50 for getting you to sign up to EK.

Yes. That is why it can be difficult to compare apples with apples, and if you also have gas, it is even more difficult. If people plan for the free hour carefully, then you can save quite a bit with it, but it does depend on how people use electricity. We use it at 9pm, so it allows the dishwasher, washing machine, water distiller, showers, heating the home, etc to all be done within that 1 hour. Showers you probably want to take slightly before 9 so it heats the water during the hour, not after it.

Delphinus

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Ultimate Geek

#2318849 16-Sep-2019 23:19

Another vote for Electric Kiwi. My average free power recently is 37.3% and my best effort was about 49%. Hot water, heaters, roast some stuff in oven for lunches, dishwasher, washing machine.

FPR

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#2319744 18-Sep-2019 13:01

tdgeek:

if you use the Stay Ahead TopUp you get a 10% discount.

(Pay ahead $200 so you are $200 in credit and they add 10% to that).

Am I reading that correct or have I got it wrong

I cant see anything on the E K website about this.

So are you saying that if I use pay ahead they will give me a 10% discount?

And if I have more then $200 in my pay ahead acc they will add 10% to that?

(also how do you keep it above $200 when it only tops up when your acc reaches zero)

jonathan18

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#2319758 18-Sep-2019 13:26

AFAIK - and I've been paying in advance for a couple of years with EK - the only saving is they waive the credit card surcharge, so it saves 1-2% (or whatever they charge for using credit cards), certainly nothing like 10%.

The EK billing is fairly transparent - simply the two charges of per unit and per day, with levy etc built in; the only 'discount' is through using stay ahead (or perhaps you save the same amount if paying by direct credit? Not sure about this as I've always paid via credit card).

Edit: it's a 1.5% surcharge if paying bills via credit card, so that's what you avoid by using stay ahead or paying by direct debit:

https://www.electrickiwi.co.nz/faq/how-to-pay

https://www.electrickiwi.co.nz/faq/billing-auto-topup-stay-ahead

Wheelbarrow01

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#2319761 18-Sep-2019 13:36

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I am also with Electric Kiwi and find it has saved me a lot compared to my previous power company. My house is perfectly geared for the free hour of power which I set to 6-7am on weekdays. I get in the shower at 5.55am and the heatpump is timed for 6-7am. By using the hour of power I get my house warmed up before I go to work and most of my hot water cost is taken care of. I'll also throw the dishwasher and washing machine on at this time too as required. When I get home from work in the winter months I light the fire - so I essentially pay nothing for winter heating electricity. My fire is very efficient so I only use about $250 worth over the course of a full year.

I vary my weekend hour of power in winter depending when I can be bothered getting up, but it's usually after 9am so the free hour still applies.

My power bill for two adults is consistently the same - around $70 a fortnight summer or winter. This includes the spa pool which I can't control - it heats whenever it wants to but it seems fairly efficient.

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